Hagel camp: He's not dropping out

Chuck Hagel’s camp pushed back forcefully Friday against the notion that he might remove himself from consideration to be secretary of Defense.

“There is absolutely no truth to the notion that Sen. Hagel might consider withdrawing,” a Hagel aide told POLITICO. “He's continuing his prep work and getting up to speed on the issues he will deal with as secretary of Defense.”

Online commentators began to speculate that Hagel might bow out, as more than a week had passed since his widely panned confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee with no word about when its members might take a vote.

Author Thomas Ricks floated the idea in a post on his blog Friday, arguing that the odds of a withdrawal were 50-50 and would increase two percent for every business day the Senate Armed Services Committee doesn’t schedule a vote. The conservative Weekly Standard — run by Hagel arch-nemesis Bill Kristol — immediately picked up that post.

But among politicians and operatives supportive of Hagel, there is little evidence of a coming withdrawal — and more than a little pique at Republicans for delaying the confirmation process. They insist he should surrender still more information about his income, but Democrats have cried foul.

Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, sent a letter Friday to ranking member Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), arguing that Hagel “has provided all the financial information the rules of the committee require.”

Levin’s letter echoed Democratic frustrations with Republican demands for more financial disclosure, and argued that Republican demands far exceed the standard practices of the committee.

"The committee cannot have two different sets of financial disclosure standards for nominees, one for Sen. Hagel and one for other nominees," Levin wrote.

Still, the nominee has also made no secret of the fact that he didn’t seek out the chance to succeed Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, who — even though Hagel hasn’t been confirmed — was still set to mark his departure from the Pentagon on Friday in a ceremony outside Washington with President Barack Obama as his guest.